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Reminiscent of the "Death Grip" saga that plagued Apple's iPhone 4 in the headlines for months, Consumer Reports is once again blasting the smartphone maker of the February launch of Verizon's iPhone. As it turns out, Consumer Reports doesn't see much difference between the Verizon iPhone 4 and its GSM sibling on AT&T. In other words, Consumer Reports doesn't like either.

Of course, this doesn't mean Apple or Verizon should be worried. The venerable consumer watchdog blasted the iPhone 4 last summer and adamantly opposed any recommendation of the handset. Apple went on to sell millions of devices and enjoy the best fiscal year in company history. So its unlikely that the latest report will do any significant damage to the Verizon iPhone. Still, Consumer Reports wants people to know about the concerns it has.

Writing for the publication, Paul Reynolds and Mike Gikas warn potential buyers about this "middle aged" product. “It may be quickly replaced by a newer, cooler version more quickly than is customary even for the die-young life expectancy of most smart phones,” Reynolds and Gikas contend. “With Apple likely to ship a new iPhone generation in June or July, as it always has for the iPhone, this is a transitional phone to tide Verizon through until the summer.”

Perhaps the biggest concern is that the iPhone 4 has joined the CDMA family. “The smart phone market has changed in ways that make the iPhone 4 show its age," the review states. "It works on third-generation data network at a time when carriers—Verizon among them—have launched faster 4G networks and phones that work on them.”

With only a few compliments to be found in the whole report - like the observation that Verizon, at least, will be “a fine carrier” - the Consumer Reports piece largely finds fault with the iPhone 4 in terms of looking out for consumers in the future of the smartphone world. Essentially, the report says: "why buy this now when Apple or another smartphone maker will release something cooler, faster, and better in the coming months?" Fortunately, most smartphone consumers are already smart enough to know that such is the reality in virtually any contemporary consumer electronics category. For this reason, it's highly unlikely that the prospect of an iPhone 5 will vastly slow purchases of the iPhone 4 during the next six months.